A board game design podcast by Cardboard Edison

A good board game can use the world around us to give players experiences that they might never get a chance to have in real life.

But are these games actually true to life, or are they glossing over some things? And how do game designers walk that line?

In Immersed, we talk to the people who know what it’s really like. Along the way, we find out what it takes to make a game, from the moment of inspiration all the way to how the finished product is received.

The global fight against infectious diseases has a new tactic called “genetic surveillance.” Dr. Bronwyn MacInnis leads a team of researchers that uses genetic surveillance to halt the spread of deadly microbes. To do it, she and her colleagues openly share information. That kind of collaboration is required of players in Pandemic, in which each player takes on the role of a professional in the field. The game’s designer, Matt Leacock, tells us how the game came together. Removing cubes from a board isn’t a matter of life and death, but combating global contagions is.